


I dreamed of you (and now you're in my arms)

by starlight_solo



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Ending, Ben lives, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Literal Sleeping Together, Neither does Finn, Poe doesnt trust Ben, Post-Canon Fix-It, Sleepy Cuddles, The fluffiest fluff, Tros fix-it, a teeny tiny smidgen of angst, canonverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:48:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_solo/pseuds/starlight_solo
Summary: When Rey and Ben return from Exegol, Poe will only let Ben stay on the condition he spends the night in a cell. Rather than be separated from her dyad again, Rey spends the night with him.Based on a prompt by reybencyera 💛
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 72





	I dreamed of you (and now you're in my arms)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm feeling super sad about fandom rn, but decided to repost this fic because it's canonverse fluff that makes me happy. I hope you enjoy in too 💛

The cockpit shivered around them and Rey mentally calculated all the possible ways this dying x-wing could fail and kill them before they even got to Ajan-Kloss.

_Thanks for nothing, Luke. Why did you have to chuck it in salt water anyway?_

Ben shifted slightly beneath her, drawing Rey from her thoughts. They had barely managed to both fit into the tiny spacecraft with her perched awkwardly on Ben’s lap, trying her hardest to avoid is seemingly broken leg. It would have been a tight fit no matter what, but trying not to crush him only made it harder.

Ben had wrapped his arms around her middle as there was more or less no where else for them to fit. It was a safe feeling and a comforting reminder that he was solid and alive behind her.

The spacecraft wobbled again disconcertingly, drawing Rey’s attention back to her job. If it chose to break now at light speed, they would definitely die. She mentally cursed Luke and his stupid decision to sink a perfectly good x-wing into salt water. Ben made a quiet noise from behind her that almost sounded like a laugh and Rey wondered if he could hear what she was thinking.

“Yes, I can hear you, Rey,” he whispered and Rey smiled. “Now please focus on not letting us die from my uncles ship falling apart at light speed.”

“Okay,” she said.

Ben shifted slightly, tightening his grip on her waist.

~~~~~~

Focusing on getting back to the Resistance was difficult for two reasons. One. Luke’s stupid ship was partly being held together by Ben’s and her own focus on the force. And two. Two was the difficult one. Rey wasn’t sure how her Resistance friends would react to Ben’s presence. The majority of them probably wouldn’t even know who he was, but the others, particularly Finn and Poe, would be a problem. She hoped they would at least leave any deliberations for tomorrow, but what if they didn’t? What if they took him away? 

Rey was fairly certain that they wouldn’t just believe that Ben was on their side now. She believed that. No. She knew it with a certainty that she had never felt before. But that didn’t mean that anyone else would believe her.

The ship creaked and groaned angrily as they came out of hyperspace, plunging towards the verdant surface of Ajan Kloss. Rey steered it masterfully, but the landing gear barely activated in time and Rey’s internal monologue of cursing Luke and his stupid ship resumed.

She heard Ben chuckle at her, but Rey was too busy to pay much head.

As the top of the x-wing lifted, gears grinding and creaking, Rey could make out festivities throughout the Resistance base. The base was more crowded than usual and Rey’s worry increased. Sneaking Ben onto was out of the question now.

Rey clambered out of the ship and then reached back to help Ben maneuver out of without further injury.

“Ben,” Rey started as soon as he was on the ground. “I have to talk to Finn and Poe. I don’t know what they’ll do or if they’ll recognize you, but I have to. I can’t very well sneak you anywhere with everything so crowded,”

Ben nodded.

“I understand,” he said, but Rey could see sadness in his warm eyes. “I’m not afraid, Rey. I’ll get what I deserve.” 

Being here, the place his mother had been so recently, must hurt. But what hurt Rey was his resignation. He knew he would not escape unscathed from his actions and he did not even desire to.

Ben leaned on her heavily as they slowly moved through the crowds of people towards Finn and Poe. Rey saw the exact moment Poe and Finn noticed them.

“Rey!” Finn shouted, exuberance overwhelming all else for the moment.

She saw Finn’s eyes light up as they landed on her and then as the clouds of confusion crossed his face as he processed Ben’s presence. Maybe he didn’t recognize him, but Rey doubted that. Poe’s expression was harder to read, but equally worrying.

Ben squeezed her side a little. It was his silent way of urging her onward.

“Hi,” she said, releasing Ben for a moment to hug her friends. Rey could feel the tension in the hug; their unease at the presence of the individual standing calmly behind Rey.

“Rey,” Poe said quietly. “Rey, is that who I think it is? Did you literally bring our enemy into our midst?”

Rey stepped back, shaking her head. “No, Poe. That’s Ben Solo. Leia’s son. Han’s son. He isn’t our enemy.”

Finn rolled his eyes. “Rey, he killed his dad. He kidnapped you. He cut open my back. Why are you saying this? Why are you even trusting him?”

Rey aimed a glare Finn’s way, and he stepped back a little in response. Over the last year, Finn and Poe had both become acquainted with Rey’s temper.

“He has changed. He’s Ben, not Kylo Ren. Please believe me, please.”

The last words were said with an air of desperation. Rey had gotten this far, she wouldn’t be giving Ben up now.

“Trust me,” she added. “When have I ever led you wrong?” she asked, eliciting a laugh from Ben.

“I don’t know, Rey. I trust you, but what will the rest of the Resistance think?” Poe asked. “It’s not like they can just forget the last year.”

“I’m not asking you to; I’m not asking them to. I just want him to be safe.” Rey pushed.

Finn and Poe turned away, discussing things between themselves and leaving Rey feeling helpless. Ben stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle again and leaning his chin on her head. His arms provided Rey with a kind of comfort she hadn’t experienced before. It was unlike anything else. Being wrapped in Ben’s warmth felt like coming home.

After what felt like hours, but was probably a few minutes at most, Finn and Poe turned back to face them. Poe’s eyebrows shot to his hairline at the sight of Ben’s arms wrapped around Rey protectively, but he said nothing about it.

“Okay, Rey, as the acting general, I am stating that he (Poe gestured vaguely in Ben’s direction) can stay in a cell for now for the comfort and safety of the Resistance. And that we will deal with what exactly to do with him shortly.”

“No!” Rey protested. “He’s injured. He needs medical care. He can’t stay in a cell, Poe. He can stay with me.”

Poe again raised his eyebrows at the comment before shaking his head. “Rey, he can stay in the cell or you can take him off this planet now. And that’s my final word on it, as your general.”

“Poe,” Rey shouted, but he had turned and was walking away from her stoically ignoring her. “Dameron get back here and talk to me.”

Finn hushed her. “Rey he’s being generous. You’re the one who decided to bring him here.”

“Don’t hush me! I will say exactly what I want to when I want to,” She shot back.

Ben shifted behind her, gently guiding her face to look back towards him.

“It’s okay. It’s what I deserve, sweetheart,” he whispered so that only she could hear him. Then he turned towards Finn, releasing Rey in the process. “Okay. Please take me away.”

Finn gave him a look of distrust and shook his head.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be good,” Ben said.

Fin shrugged and then beckoned Ben to follow him as he walked towards the large durasteel building that the Resistance had used as their very limited prison block while based on Ajan Kloss.

Rey froze, watching as they walked away before her brain caught up with what was happening.

“Finn, I’m staying with him,” she shouted as she ran after them.

Finn turned towards her, a look of disbelief and annoyance contorting his features. Ben shook his head, but Rey simply resumed her place at his side, helping to support him as they maneuvered through the crowds. Rey noticed Rose talking with Jannah, the ex-stormtrooper who had helped them earlier. Kaydel walked by, smiling at Rey briefly. And they continued to make their way through the thinning crowds towards the cell to which Ben had been relegated.

Finn opened the door and led them through to a small square room with a narrow cot in one corner and a sink in the other. A small annex room housed a tiny fresher. A tiny, barred window allowed in a modicum of light. The ceiling light was harsh, giving the room a sterile, cold feel. The cot had a few blankets folded at the end and a single pillow.

Finn turned to leave but stopped before he exited the cell. “Rey, you don’t have to stay here. Please just come back to the celebrations. He’ll be fine here.”

“No. I’m staying. Don’t worry about me, Finn. There are some things that I can’t explain yet, but I will soon. I promise.”

“Fine. I’ll have someone bring you clean clothes by later,” Finn said before closing the door with a dull thud. The lock clicked a moment later, sealing them into their small prison.

“Why did you do that?” Ben asked quietly from behind her. “Why did you stay? You should have gone with him. They’re your friends, Rey.”

“And what are you, Ben?” Rey asked, turning to face and finding him sitting on the edge of the cot. “You’re my dyad. Do you think that means nothing?”

He shrugged. Rey walked the short distance to the cot, stopping in front of Ben’s slumped form.

“Ben?” she asked. “Do you really think that you could matter less to me than my friends? I once told Finn that nobody really knew me, but that wasn’t true, was it? Because you know me.”

“I thought you hated me this last year. I thought that you hated the bond that tied us together,” he whispered, still staring at the floor.

Rey caught her breath at his words. Reaching out, she ran her hands down his cheeks, lifting his chin so that he was forced to face her. Rather than meet her eyes, Ben closed his own, guarding his emotions behind closed lids.

“Why do you think I kiss you?” she asked and his warm chocolate eyes snapped open to meet hers. “Why do you think I care so much, Ben? Why?”

“I don’t know,” he choked out. “I always thought it might pity.”

Rey couldn’t help it, she laughed. “You thought I pitied you? No, Ben. No. I love you.”

And before he could respond again, Rey lent forward and kissed him again. Breaking the kiss, Rey pressed gentle kisses to his closed eyes and then to the tip of his nose. She brushed her hands through his hair, pushing away from his face. During their kiss, his hands had made their way to her waist and he gently pulled her towards himself.

Stepping away from Ben, Rey shifted to sit by his side. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he kept his arms wrapped around her.

“You should rest, Ben,” Rey whispered after what could have been minutes or hours.

He nodded and moved to stand. Rey pulled him back.

“Where are you going?”

“The floor,” he answered sheepishly.

“Ben, have I not made things clear enough for you?” Rey asked. “Come back here and lie down.”

“But where will you sleep?” he inquired.

Rey raised her eyebrows at him and waited.

“Oh…Oh, I see,” Ben said after a moment pause. A faint blush tinted his cheeks through the grime they both still wore from their ordeal on Exegol.

Ben settled back on the bed awkwardly, bending down stiffly to unbuckle his boots. He kept glancing at Rey as if expecting her to change her mind, but she wouldn’t be doing that. Eventually, Ben lay down shifting himself into the farthest corner of the tiny mattress.

Rey slipped her own boots of quickly and crept between the sheets with Ben, pulling the few extra blankets at the end of the bed up over them both.

Ben shifted away from her, trying to get comfortable without crushing her, but Rey wasn’t going to have that. She scooted away in the bed to allow him to get comfortable.

First he was on his back, which unfortunately (or fortunately in Rey’s opinion) resulted with her being half on top of him. Ben quickly shifted to his side, but ended up facing the wall with Rey behind him. Rey nuzzled into his back, wrapping her arms around his middle.

After a few minutes like this, Ben whispered to Rey. “Could you please turn over.” She happily complied, ending up back-to-back with Ben. The feeling of his back against hers reminded her of the throne room and Snoke’s death, when they had fought together as one for the first time.

Within another few minutes, Ben turned over again, wrapping his arm around her, only to turn away again quickly. And the whole thing started again.

After much further shifting, Ben ended up on his on his left side with Rey tucked into his arms. His embarrassment was palpable through the bond.

“Rey, I haven’t done this before. I mean, I haven’t shared a bed with anyone,” Ben whispered into her hair. “I might not be good at it. I might hurt you.”

Rey stifled a giggle. “I haven’t done this either, Ben. I might be worse. I might steal the sheets.”

She could feel him smiling into her hair. Ben pulled her just a little closer, entwining her in his arms. And Rey felt utterly safe. She wished she could stay there forever. She wished that the morning would never come. That they would never have to deal with the problems with the resistance.

As she drifted off to sleep, Rey heard Ben’s whispered words. “I love you too, Rey. Always have and I always will.” She smiled, shifting herself so that she was completely pressed into Ben’s chest. His arms tightened around her.

The waves of sleep rolled over Rey. She had no idea how long they slept; the only constant was Ben’s arms holding her down to reality.

Rey half woke at some point to notice that light was once again filtering through the small window, but was pulled back to sleep by Ben’s calm presence and the warmth cocooning her.

The next time she woke, she found that they had shifted positions during sleep. She was not resting almost on top of Ben who was on his back. Her head was tucked underneath Ben’s chin and his arms remained wrapped around her.

She reached up a cautious hand to brush the hair from Ben’s face, eliciting a small sigh from him. Turning over, Rey bent over him, gently running her fingertips over his face. She stopped at his lips, feeling their soft plushness. _I kissed those lips._ Rey smiled to herself. She ran a finger across the place where the scar she had given him once stood out stark against his skin. Now it was only the faintest line against his porcelain skin.

With a small sigh, Ben open his eyes, smiling up to her.

“Is this a dream?” Ben asked, his voice rough from sleep.

Rey shook her head. “No, Ben. It’s real.”

He smiled at her again and this time it wasn’t a sleeping smile of disbelief, it was a true smile like the one on Exegol.

One of his hands cupped her cheek and then made its way to tangle in her hair.

“You need a bath, Sweetheart,” he said and Rey rolled her eyes, leaning forward to kiss him.

Pulling away for a second, Rey whispered “Baths are for later. Sleep more now, my love.”

Ben pulled her back into his chest so that she was lying fulling on top of him with her head once again tucked under his chin.

“I love you, Rey,” he whispered as the tendrils of sleep again reached for her, pulling her back towards sleep.

“I love you too, Ben,”

Rey smiled, wrapped in Ben’s embrace nothing else mattered. She would deal with the Resistance later, but for now they were safe. Safer than either of them had ever been before.


End file.
